Who can give good descriptions of BCI morphs?

Hi, can anyone give me some morph education, and descriptions?
I am blind, so pictures don't do me any good, so if you can give a good description, I'll just imagine it the best I can.

I have 1 Albino BCI, and am interested in what other forms of Albino morphs are out there.

On the multi-gene snakes, describe the base morphs, and then explain on how it shows in the end product.
Say a Sunglow for example.
I know it has Albino in it, along with other stuff.
What do the other's look like on their own, and then when crossed, how does this affect the morph?

Hope that made sense. :)
What about other albino morphs? For instance, the Moon glow or coral albinos?
I am most interested in the albino morphs, so any of those kinds of morphs you can describe for me would be greatly appreciated! :)


Thanks for any help you can give!
-Amanda

Hopefully Evenstar will chime in here. She is very knowledgeable on everything boa. I don't have all the morph stuff down.

Hopefully! :)
Evenstar was very helpful on my last post about new boas.

Oh boy. I could go on and on and on and..... well.... you get the idea. :D

Probably the best way to do this is to start with what you want to know first. I will check this thread each night and respond (as best I can) to what you want to know next. I'll start with the albino complex.....

Albinism is the absence of black pigmentation. So all grey tones are eliminated. An adult albino will appear yellow in overall tone and one can usually see the boa's pattern in washed out pink or orange. The tail saddles are usually the most vivid. The eyes are pink and may appear red when the pupil is fully dilated. There are two lines of albino and they are not genetically compatible - Kahl and Sharp. It is nearly impossible to visually tell the difference between the two so proper documentation is important. In the Kahl line, there are several strains that can affect color - lipstick and coral are the most common and desirable. A coral albino is usually very pink overall and a lipstick usually has a crisper pattern.

Sunglows add the co-dominant gene hypomelanism. The hypo gene reduces the production of melanin which gives the animal a very pink/orange appearance. With the albino gene eliminating black pigment, you have a very bright and vividly orange and pink snake with a crisp pattern on a light yellow or nearly white background. Picture the albino with a light bulb inside. And sunglows usually retain their pattern better as adults than straight albinos.

Snows are a combination of anerythrism and albino. The anery gene is the reduction of red pigmentation. So an anery boa is a silver grey animal with no red or rust coloration. When the albino gene is combined, it eliminates the pink/orange pattern and reduces the yellow tone. So you have a pure white baby with pink eyes that matures to an overall ivory snake. Good quality snows are light ivory and poorer quality ones can appear quite yellow still.

Moonglows are snows with hypomelanism thrown in. That further reduces pigment so this animal is the whitest and lightest as an adult. Aside from the exceedingly rare luscistic boa, a moonglow is about as close as you can get to a pure white animal.


Hope that helps!! What would you like to hear about next?? ;)

Ok, so far I think I like the sound of a sunglow.
I think you covered all the albino morphs that I've came across so far. :)
If I come across anymore I'll be sure to ask.

If anyone has other suggestions of nice morphs and can give descriptions, feel free.
I had posters do this a few months back to help me picture all the morphs of Ball's, to learn what I liked such as a Pi, and others. lol



So, on the Kahl or Sharp, my little female is one of these?
I guess I should hit up the breeder I bought her from to see what she is.
Don't Really plan on breeding her, but this sounds like info that should be kept if only just for records at least. lol
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read the terms T positive and negative in some albinos?
What does this mean?


Also, could you give a good link to more info on the Kahl and Sharp stuff?
Or explain in a bit more detail, because this sounds like something worth knowing.

Evenstar did a great job of describing to colors. If I were to buy another boa, it would be a sunglow also!

If you have an albino boa, it has to be either Kahl or Sharp. If you don't know for certain what you have, it is almost certainly a Kahl. The Kahl line is far more common than Sharp. You can ask the breeder, but most breeders who work with Sharps will make it darn clear at the time of purchase that that is what you are getting. Sharps are usually more expensive too simply because they are harder to find. If the breeder didn't tell you what line it is, its Kahl.

Normal albinos are T negative. Making melanin (black) pigment starts with the amino acid tyrosine. It goes through a dozen or so chemical changes before becoming melanin. Tyrosinase is the enzyme that catalyses the first two chemical changes. One gene carries the information for making tyrosinase. If the gene changes enough, the resulting enzyme can't do its job, and no melanin gets made. The changed gene has become a tyrosinase-negative albino mutant gene. Some animals lack melanin but have normal tyrosinase. Then the mutant gene causing the lack is called the tyrosinase-positive albino mutant gene.

T+ animals look very different from typical albinos. They have an overall caramel color with lots of warm browns and creams. There are several lines of T+ and some, but not all, are compatible.

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Originally Posted by Craigaria

Evenstar did a great job of describing to colors. If I were to buy another boa, it would be a sunglow also!

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I agree on both counts. That was a fantastic description and you can't go wrong with a nice sunglow. They are one of my favorite combinations. And unlike plain albinos they really tend to hold up as they age.

http://rs1078.pbsrc.com/albums/w481/...bb.jpg~320x480

http://rs1078.pbsrc.com/albums/w481/...33.jpg~320x480

Are boas like balls where there are 2 categories, color and pattern morphs?
I would like to hear about other morphs as well.
Some of them that I am aware of are:
Hypo
Motley
Anerythristic
Arabesque
AZTEC

but I'm not familiar with all morphs, so if I didn't list them, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear about them.
I would Google this type of thing, but just haven't found a site yet that gives as good as descriptions as you guys do! :)

Thanks,
-Amanda

Yes, there are both color and pattern morphs in boas. However, it's important to note that color morphs usually affect pattern and pattern morphs can affect color.

Hypomelanism (hypo) is a color morph and is the reduction of black pigmentation (but not an absence). It is a co-dominant gene and when two are bred together, a super-hypo can result. It is a key ingredient to some popular color morphs such as sunglows, moonglows, and ghosts. The snake will have an overall muted coloration and can be vibrantly orange or pink in color. The pattern will appear more clean and the saddles tend to have a distinct X shape. Hypos are very distinguishable from normals, but not all hypo-looking snakes are, in fact, hypo as there are some other color morphs and gene that can affect color in the same way. A super-hypo will be exceptionally clean and light with even narrower saddles. There are two lines of hypo and they ARE compatible although most breeders do try to keep them separate. Salmon hypos are a softer color and more pink in tone. Orange Tail hypos are more brilliant and orange in tone with vivid tails.

Anerythrism (anery) is another color morph. This is the reduction of RED pigment and the snake will have a silver, black, and grey coloring. Some anerys just look rather drab in appearance, but it is an important gene to create snows, moonglows, ghosts, and more. Pattern is not affected as much in this morph. There are several types of anerys and its important to know what you have because they are not compatible - Type 1, Type 2, and black eyed anerys all do slightly different things.

Motley is a pattern morph. These snakes have thick saddles that connect laterally. The pattern is squarish in appearance and the tails are often fully striped. Arabesques are very similar except the pattern and connecting lines are much finer and the pattern is more diamond shaped. The tail pattern on Arabs is more banded than solid too. When these two genes are combined, you often have a snake with no saddles at all but still retains the connecting lateral lines.

Aztecs are almost impossible to describe. poo. These are wicked and considered a high-end morph. The pattern is zig-zaggy, connected, and can create distinct aberrancies. The tail is almost solid color and there almost seem to be "holes" in the color where the base tone shows through in a small square pattern. The head spear is elaborate and creates a more "spread-out" head pattern. There is another morph - Inca - that is very similar but the pattern isn't quite as heavy. Aztecs will set you back about $2000.

Ok, so, can you describe the different anerys??
The Aztec sounds cool. :)
Oh, what about Jungles??
I think I've run out of single gene morphs...
Some of the morphs you talked about aren't eye catching on their own, but what combos are nice looking, but still affordable?? I say affordable, I mean around the $500 range...

Type 1 anerys are the more "standard" version. Their pattern is typical wild-type and they are more grey and black in color. Type 2 anerys are more pewter and silver. Black eyed anerys are darker overall and have black eyes.

Jungles are one of my personal favorites. I love what this gene does both on its own and when combined with other genes. It is both a color and a pattern morph. I have done extensive research on this particular gene since I have several Jungles in my collection. What I'm about to post wasn't written by me, however. It was written by Diem of Celestial Exotics and reposted here with permission. It is the best way to accurately describe the Jungle gene.

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The Jungle Mutation in Boa Constrictors has two components; color and pattern and it is an incomplete dominant trait. An incomplete dominant trait, in the simplest of terms (emphasizing simplest for those who are really rabid about more complex explanations), is a trait that, by itself, is incomplete and so the incomplete form of it is technically visually heterozygous for the complete trait (this means they visually show that they can create the Super Jungle mutation). This means that what we call Jungles are actually Het. Jungles and taking two Het. Jungles and pairing them together creates the actual Jungle. However, for sake of ease and lack of confusion, the incomplete form is called Jungle and the complete form is called Super Jungle. The Super Jungle results because you are basically combining two halves of the same incomplete dominant trait together to make it complete. What results is a complete trait that will produce only incomplete dominant versions of itself no matter what it is bred to (of course more supers would result if you paired it with yet another Jungle and all Super Jungles would result if you bred it to another Super Jungle).

There are five to seven primary indicators that have been recognized in Jungles (depending on who you talk to):

- Missing/Floating Saddle Points
- Aberrant Pattern
- "Popping Color"
- Broken/Distorted/Hole Punched Head Stripe
- Pale Pattern Elements
- Two Tone Coloration
- Black Outline Around Saddles

While these indicators are great tools in helping people recognize a Jungle Boa, the problem is that a Jungle Boa can have ONE of these primary indicators and still be a Jungle Boa. A Jungle is not always going to have a broken head spear, a Jungle is not always going to have black outlines around the saddles and a Jungle is not always going to have missing and floating saddle points.

One of the most important things to remember is that an aberrant pattern does not a Jungle make; just because it has a wacky pattern does not mean it is a Jungle. In fact, that is probably the least important element in telling a Jungle from a non-Jungle animal.

It is also important to note, especially when it comes to Hypo Jungles, that black outlines will not always be readily seen on the saddles.

Even the darkest of Jungles POP out at you meaning that in Jungles, there is almost always going to be an obvious intensity of dorsal color versus the color on their sides and it causes them to POP out. This is one of the most important aspects of determining when a Jungle actually is a Jungle. Generally, the back of the animal is going to be so much more colorful from the paler color of the sides that there is actually an outline of color that can be seen, or a “racing stripe” that prominently shows where the separation of color is.

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I love the look of Jungles. I think they are outstanding all on their own. I have a low-expression male that is more colorful than most of my color morphs. He is a beautiful buckskin or caramel color and has bright rust saddles and tail pattern. His laterals are rosy pink.

Jungles, when not combined with other morphs, are not typically very high priced unless they are amazingly high-expression. I purchased my 2011 male for only $250. High-expression Jungles can go as high as $700-800 or even more, but low-expressions are much less. It's important to note here that what makes a "low" or "high" expression Jungle is pattern. Any Jungle should have that nice golden caramel color and pink laterals. But the high expressions will also have tremendous aberrancies in the pattern. Some will be so wild looking they will appear zig-zag or chain-link and the pattern will run the full length of the snake. But low expressions are very beautiful too.

As far as price, hypos and anerys are both very reasonable at around $220 or less. Albinos might run more like $400. Snows and Sunglows will be over your mark of $500 though, usually running more like $600. Moonglows are still highly desirable and will be close to $1600. Motleys are generally around $300-400 depending on pattern and Arabesques are about the same.

Actually, all of these morphs are very striking on their own. Combining them together or with other genes doesn't necessarily make them "prettier" but it does add to the price.

Great descriptions. It's hard finding good info. I have a kahl sunglow het kahl stripe female. My question is what would best male pairing for little or no possibles. I have heard sunglow het stripe to sunglow het stripe can lead to more birth defects and stillborns. Also, are the lipstick boas a super sunglow? Or separate co dominant like coral? Also get confused on stripes. I read there are co Dom stripes but kahl stripe is recessive. Some motley seem striped and some jungles seem striped. Are they all different stripes?

I'm not an expert but will try to help

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Originally Posted by DerekBradley

I have a kahl sunglow het kahl stripe female. My question is what would best male pairing for little or no possibles. I have heard sunglow het stripe to sunglow het stripe can lead to more birth defects and stillborns.

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Little or no possible what? hets?

You heard that breeding may cause more birth defects because albino x albino can lead to more defects (premature birth, missing or bad eyes, kinks). This was much more true in the 90s and it was because the albinos weren't as common and therefore there was more line/inbreeding happening. Now that they have been outcrossed with new blood over the years, it's not nearly as common as it used to be. I wouldn't really worry about it to much. espcailly if the ones you want to breed are not directly related.

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Originally Posted by DerekBradley

Also, are the lipstick boas a super sunglow? Or separate co dominant like coral?

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No, lipsticks are not super sunglows. Lipstick is a line of kahl strain albinos that are known for producing strong red coloration. Just like coral is a line of kahl albinos known for producing boas with lots of pink and orange over the yellow.
Lipstick line was founded by Tom Burke. I'm sorry but I don't recall who founded the corals. Both lines are highly variable as they are line bred traits. If you breed two corals together or two lipstick line animals together, you are more likely to see those same traits show up in the babies. Also just because someone has a high color albino, does not mean it is one of those lines unless they have lineage info tracing it back.

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Originally Posted by DerekBradley

Also get confused on stripes. I read there are co Dom stripes but kahl stripe is recessive. Some motley seem striped and some jungles seem striped. Are they all different stripes?

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Yes there are dom stripe lines and the kahl stripe which is recessive. There are also reverse stripe animals but as with the dom stripes, sometimes it is inheritable and sometimes it is simply normal pattern variation.
Motley and jungle morphs both mess with pattern (as well as color) and yes, do sometimes result in stripes. Motleys tend to throw stripey tails, jungles tend to throw chain link connected saddle patterns. They are not versions of stripe. It is just the normal variation of those morphs.

I hope that helps a little!